New York, Jan 30, 2026, 17:00 EST — Trading after hours.
- Broadcom shares hovered around $331 in after-hours trading, following a modest rise on Friday.
- Wolfe Research raised its rating on the stock, assigning a $400 price target
- Traders are eyeing next week’s U.S. jobs report and the upcoming earnings season for clearer signals on risk appetite
Broadcom shares held steady near $331 in after-hours trading Friday following Wolfe Research’s upgrade to Outperform from Peer Perform, with a $400 price target in tow. The stock gained around 0.2% during the day, closing at $331.30 after swinging between $322.77 and $338.17 on roughly 28 million shares traded. Wolfe analyst Chris Caso said the firm “could no longer ignore” Broadcom’s growth and edge in tensor processing units. (TipRanks)
This call is crucial as investors grow uneasy over what parts of the AI surge will last and which are just hype. Broadcom operates in the infrastructure — custom chips and networking — where a few major clients’ spending choices can quickly shift market mood.
It also hits the tape late in a week when traders were already adjusting their positions ahead of Monday’s open. Sometimes, a single solid upgrade is enough to cause that, even if the stock barely budges during the session.
Wolfe’s note flagged a sharp rise in demand for tensor processing units, Google’s own AI chips powering its data centers. It also highlighted efforts to open these chips up beyond Google, setting the stage for a more direct challenge to Nvidia’s graphics processors, which currently dominate AI server acceleration.
Options activity edged toward bullish territory heading into the weekend, as calls outpaced puts—calls betting on gains, puts on losses—and implied volatility crept higher, data referenced by TheFly show. (TipRanks)
Investors are now asking if the surge in AI demand will actually translate into better profits. Back in December, Broadcom flagged concerns that a growing share of lower-margin custom AI chips could weigh on earnings, sparking skepticism about how profitable the AI ramp-up really is for suppliers. “Hitting that panic button is premature,” Ben Reitzes of Melius Research said at the time. (Reuters)
Part of the long-term landscape is already set. Last year, Broadcom and OpenAI announced a multi-year partnership to roll out racks of AI accelerators and networking gear starting in the second half of 2026, continuing through 2029. (Broadcom Investors)
Still, Wolfe’s thesis hinges heavily on timing. Should cloud clients pull back on AI capital expenditures, or if custom accelerator projects falter due to performance, yield, or power issues, the upgrade rationale could collapse fast.
Risk assets face a key short-term test next week with the U.S. Employment Situation report for January set for release on Feb. 6 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Additional labor-market data will drop around the same time. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Broadcom’s next major event is its fiscal first-quarter earnings report, scheduled for March 4, according to market calendars. Investors will be watching closely for shifts in commentary around custom AI demand and any margin trade-offs. (Marketscreener)
